1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to input devices for computer systems and more particularly to the construction, function, and design of a mouse used in computers, especially in notebook computers.
2. The Prior Art
At the present time there are a large variety of computer mouse and trackball designs. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,541 to Solhjell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,276 to Kwok, U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,019, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,289 to Jasinski et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,919 to Nippoldt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,102 to Nassimi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,371 to Blonder, U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,148 to Anderson, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,334 to Hsieh et al.
As one of the major input devices, a mouse has become an inseparable part of desktop computer systems. There is no place for a mouse in a notebook computer system, however, because of the size of the mouse and its inseparability from a mouse pad.
There are many trackballs or track points developed for notebook computers. All of them are limited to cursor movements on the screen of the notebook computers. Conventional mice for cursor moving/placing, object picking, editing, drawing, painting, menu selecting, window opening and closing, etc. are not used in notebook computer systems. However, most computer users still like the convenience and click feeling of a mouse. It is also very hard to draw a graphic precisely in a notebook computer without a mouse. A notebook computer requires the user to use two hands or two fingers to draw a linexe2x80x94one hand or one finger to press a key or button to hold the start point of a cursor and another hand or another finger to rotate the trackball or track point to move the cursor to another location. This procedure is obviously very inconvenient.
Because the design trend of notebook computer systems is toward miniaturization: ultra-thinner, ultra-lighter, and ultra-smaller, there is no place in such systems for a mouse pad at all. Desktop computer systems too are being built smaller with mini-packed computer bodies and accessories. A mouse pad placed beside the keyboard of a desktop computer is typically sized at about 9 inches longxc3x978 inches widexc3x970.125 inches high. The mouse pad requires a certain amount of desk space. Although wireless mice have been available in the market for years, many still depend on mouse pad for operation, rendering the remote control meaningless. Wireless mice or trackballs are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,621 to Junod et al and U.S. Design Pat. No. 356,558 to Montgomery.
A wireless palm mouse is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,126 to Hilbrink et al in which the mouse has a trackball on the flat underside of the mouse for cursor movement as the trackball is moved along a surface and separate switch for point and click or drag and drop user-initiated actions. See also U.S. Design Pat. No. 381,661 to Althans, U.S. Design Pat. No. 378,086 to Sheehan et al; U.S. Design Pat. No. 340,042 to Copper et al.
A wireless computer input system using a pen-type input device and a receiver is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,981 to Paull et al. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,996 to Kim et al. A hand-held pointer control and input device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,018 to Pejic et al. Other patents of general interest relate to joysticks for use in electronic devices. See, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,128 to Grisham, U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,892 to Corballis et al.
The certain inflexible operation position of a conventional mouse and trackball creates the potential for frequent wrist injury to the user. Because a conventional mouse is able to move only within the certain small area of the mouse pad, the wrist of the user is repeatedly and frequently hit and pressured without enough rest.
Conventional mice and trackballs are mainly designed for right-handed users. Right-handed users and left-handed users are not able to use the same mouse or trackball without difficulty. Left-handed users usually have difficulty finding suitable left-handed mice and trackballs for them.
A conventional mouse of a desktop computer system is connected to the computer motherboard through a cable. The cable has a certain and limited length. A cabled mouse or trackball, moreover, is designed for only a single user to operate the computer. It is not designed to share multiple operations on the computer screen with other users operating other mice or trackballs. It is not very convenient to use a single cabled mouse or trackball to operate a multiple of shared computer system screens for education classes, business conferences, computer graphic work, and Internet communications.
Many new data input devices which combine a conventional mouse and a trackball are large in size. These large size devices are not suitably incorporated into the design trend of mini-sized notebook computer systems.
Conventional trackballs and track points also are operated rotationally for cursor movement only, not for press-click function.
The rolling balls of conventional mice and trackballs are easily dirtied from contact with fingers and dirty mouse pads. The dirt accumulates on the round surface of the mouse ball or track ball and causes incorrect cursor movements on the screen.
Another disadvantage of a conventional mouse or trackball results from the use of passwords, as a security measure to access software in a computer system. A conventional mouse or trackball is not able to act as a secured key to open and close the whole computer system and fit into the pocket of the computer user when finished.
Therefore, in order to solve the foregoing problems and drawbacks, a need exists for a flexible, mini-sized, freely movable and storable, mobile mouse that fits in the palm of the user""s hand during use, that will not become dirty from mouse pad contact to cause incorrect cursor movements, that has multiple playing functions, and that minimizes the risk of wrist injury.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mini-sized, hand- or palm-held, wireless mobile mouse operable without a mouse pad which saves operating area when used with desktop computers and which may also be used with mini-sized notebook computers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held mouse which avoids wrist injury because the user is free to move or operate the mouse in any direction while his or her wrist rests comfortably without strain or stress from confined movements of a mouse pad.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held mobile mouse which the user may easily use with either his or her right or left hand.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held mobile mouse which may by used in conjunction with other hand-held mobile mice for multiple playing of games or operation of computer functions on one shared computer screen.
The present invention provides a hand-held mobile mouse for a computer, such as a notebook computer, and a notebook computer and mouse system. The mouse comprises a housing having a shape designed to be held in a user""s hand, preferably fitting within the user""s palm, a sphere, preferably made of an elastic material and containing a round magnetic core inside, a rolling movement detection unit for generating a signal for cursor movements on the screen of the computer, a plurality of spring units mounted in the housing for vertical movement of the sphere to generate a signal to activate a computer programmed click function operation, a remote wireless signal unit for converting the signals from the rolling movement detection unit to signals transmitted to the computer, a circuit board or boards connected to the remote wireless signal unit, and a receptacle for batteries formed within the housing. Preferably, at least one click key activator is disposed on the housing for generating a signal to activate a computer programmed click function operation.
The notebook computer used in association with the hand-held mobile mouse has a remote wireless multiple signal receiver for receipt of signals transmitted by the mouse and a removable drawer under or in front of the keyboard to place and store the mouse.
By virtue of the compact mini-sized and pad-less/wire-less remote control, the present invention provides an extremely versatile mouse that is especially designed for notebook computer systems.
The hand-held mobile mouse of the present invention may be operated by a single finger by rotating the sphere for precise cursor movements and by pressing the sphere down for prompt click or double-click computer functions.
The rolling movement detection unit may be operated to transmit xe2x80x9cX-xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cY-xe2x80x9d rolling motions through a magnetic field flux and magnetic force between the sphere rotated by the thumb of a user and a small magnetic ball within the rolling movement detector. The round magnetic core inside the rolling sphere rotates the small magnetic ball by moving magnetic field intensity and rolling magnetic force.
Preferably, the rotating sphere is not in direct contact with the small magnetic ball so that the small magnetic ball remains clean and lets the rolling detection unit precisely signal the corresponding movements of a cursor on a screen.
Alternatively, the magnetic core may by omitted by supporting the sphere on four free rolling roller units, two of which are used to implement the rolling movement detection function. The mouse may be programmed with personal passwords and kept in the pocket of a user for security reasons. By programming the remote wireless radio signal generated by the mouse itself for identification, a personal password may be applied to both software and hardware at the same time.
Additional details of the invention are contained in the following detailed description and the attached drawings in which preferred embodiments are illustrated by way of example.